A cool little story about Bimini and Dr. King. Reposted on MLK Day.
Ansil brought us to an open space in the mangrove. “They call this Bonefish Hole, but I call this Dr. King’s Creek of Peace because this is where I brought Martin Luther King.”
I first published a version of this in 2013 after finding out King had been to the Bahamas and been out with Ansil into the mangroves.
A cool story, if you haven’t heard it already, about Dr. King’s trip to Bimini, going out with guide Ansil Saunders.
I had not heard about the bust of Dr. King out there in the mangroves. That’s kind of cool, I think.
Resorts World Bimini wanted to bring rapid ferry service to Bimini to bring allllll sorts of flashy, cash-dripping Americans over to their resort.
Locals said “It isn’t going to work.”
Environmentalists said “It isn’t going to work.”
The Bahamian Administration said “I can’t hear you over the sound of all this money.”
Guess what? Resorts World Bimini got their ferry and their ferry terminal (at some high environmental costs).
And guess what happened next! Yup… the ferry has failed and the service has stopped.
The Bahamian people appear to be on the hook for this bit of douchbaggery.
This is certainly Bonefish on the Brain approved. Maybe not the music, but the idea, for sure.
If we really do get recycled when we die and come back here again to do it all over again, my next life I want to be a fisheries biologist. I think about fish for large portions of each day, it would be great to be out there doing field research.
That won’t happen for me, but if you know some young kid who might want to do something like that, you should have them check out Bimini Sharklab. They take on interns and teach them the craft and they just do some pretty damn cool work as well. Really, check them out.
They have a great website and you can follow them on Twitter and Facebook as well.
I love sharks. Maybe I love them because my daughter loves them, but I think it is more than that.
Nurse Shark, snorkeling with El Pescador.
I love seeing sharks up on the flats because it means everything is working, the system is healthy and things are as they are supposed to be. Where you find sharks, you find bonefish. When you see a barracuda hanging around, it is likely a bonefish will pass that way before too long. The predators police the flats, picking off the injured, the sick and the less fit. They are the reason a bonefish swims 25 mph and tails in inches of water. They are what they are because of the predatory pressures exerted by those sharks and cudas.
So, we should all love sharks and forgive the odd shark or cuda that steals a fish off our line. They are the ones who made them, after all.
Company.
The good news is that the dredging has been halted in Bimini. The Privy Council issued an injunction to keep the dredger, named after Machiavelli, from chewing up any more of the Bahamian sand. The bad news… it could start again.
Declaring a major victory for advocacy group Bimini Blue Coalition (BBC), their lawyer Fred Smith, QC, said: “This is a significant step in the effort to save the vital natural resources of Bimini and defend the integrity of the rule of law in The Bahamas. Hopefully, political leaders will come to realize that they do not have the right to bypass the safeguards and protections built into our laws when granting approvals to developers. We are very happy with the court’s decision, and will continue to hold the government’s feet to the fire in an effort to protect the interests of Bimini’s unique community and precious environment.”
Knock it off!
I have not been to Bikini, but this was an interesting look at the island.
There aren’t a lot of reasons to visit Bimini, but there are good reasons, such as world-class fishing, be it the deep sea variety or the pursuit of bonefish skirting around the shallow flats just off the coast. Bimini hosts a handful of fishing tournaments each year that pack the islands. There also are diving, snorkeling and the simple joy of visiting a warm-weather island 50 miles east of Miami that is hospitable to visitors while remaining true to itself.
The islands, not the knot.
Sometimes things fall through the cracks… not sure how I missed this video up at Field and Stream, but there it is… Check it.
Last Friday marked the 40th anniversary of the day Ansil Saunders led a client to the 16-pound bonefish in Bimini, Bahamas, that still stands as the all tackle world record. As luck would have it, my good friend and editor of Fly Fishing In Salt Waters John Frazier and I were chosen from a group of writers to fish with Ansil on the anniversary.
via Bonefishing with a Living Legend | Field & Stream.
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For those who love fishing skinny water and have an artistic bent, the legendary Bimini Big Game Club is putting out a call for online submissions for a virtual boat parade to be celebrated as part of the inaugural Bonefish Bimini Challenge‹scheduled for February 25th.
via BYM Marine & Maritime News.
My artistic energies are largely tied to stick figures and crude representations of bonefish to entertain my daughter. If you happen to be a few dozen notches above me in the awesomeness of your artistic abilities, this may just be for you.
Check it out. Go to the Bimini Big Game Club to submit your entry.
Here’s a well done little video featuring bonefishing in Bimini. Now… it isn’t fly fishing, but it is well done.
The guide is Fred Rolle, who, as you might guess, also guides fly fishing anglers.
